Cottage Neighbors
by I-survived-life
Summary: If I'd known a certain messy haired idiot was going to be in the cottage next to my family's when we went on summer vacation, I would've stayed home.


"Lily, are you packed!" mum yelled from downstairs.

"Just about!" I yelled back as loudly as I could. I zipped up my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I was finally packed for our two month summer vacation. Unfortunately, I'd have to spend it with my sister Petunia and her whale of a fiancé Vermin. He was one of the most unpleasant people that I had ever had the misfortune to meet.

And I thought Petunia was bad, he was about a million times worse. I spent half the time telling him that wizards were not cave people. Unfortunately, I wasn't seventeen yet so I couldn't silence him without getting expelled. I shut my bedroom door behind me and made for the stairs. Petunia seemed to have the same idea and had decided to leave her room at the same time.

She immediately stiffened at the sight of me and looked forward, avoiding all eye contact with me and acting like I wasn't there. I barely even glanced at her and instead skipped down the stairs.

I'd just about given up on Petunia, nothing I said or did would make her like me; she was determined to hate me for something that I couldn't control. I wasn't going to start snapping at her or making snide remarks –the same couldn't be said for her fiancé– but I wasn't going to be bending over backwards just to please Petunia. I'd spent the last six years trying to please her with no results.

When I got downstairs, I found my mum arranging bags at the front of the house and checking to make sure that we had everything. I'd bet all of my savings that she'd done this three times by now. I dropped my bag next to a large one that I assumed was hers. Mum looked down at my small bag full of clothing in doubt. Well, it was small compared to everything else that everyone was taking.

"Are you sure you've got everything you need, we'll be away for almost two months," she said.

"It's fine mum, it's not like I'm going to be seeing anyone that I know there, I'll just wash everything as soon as I change them," was my reply. Besides, we were going to be stuck in the woods all summer, what was the point of packing all of these clothes just to get them dirty.

I was about to head into our kitchen to grab some breakfast when the doorbell rang. The groan that escaped from me was instinct at this point. No one came to visit me and lately, the only visitor that we'd had come over was Vernon Dursley.

Petunia gave me a dirty look but hurried to open the door. Her expression went from one of a dirty look to the one of excited and happy. How she could be happy to see Vernon was entirely beyond me but Petunia had always had some very peculiar taste in things.

Vernon wrapped his arms around Petunia and I could've sworn that she'd disappeared for a second before reappearing again. Personally, I thought Petunia could've done so much better than Vernon but the one time that I'd said that to her, she gotten angry at me. I could understand why she got angry, I was basically saying that her boyfriend sucked and she needed a better one, but Petunia looked like she was about to rip out my hair and feed it to me or something.

I'd kept my mouth shut about him after that though, if he made her happy and vice versa, who was I to stand in the way of true love.

That didn't mean that I stopped trying to make Vernon angry though.

Vermin –as I liked to call him– shook my mother's hand and politely commented on what she was wearing. Then his attention was turned to me and the look of politeness turned to that of distaste. I managed to keep myself from rolling my eyes, every time that he came over we did the same thing.

He'd be perfectly nice to the rest of my family and then when he had to talk to me and shake my hand, he'd act as if I had some sort of contagious disease that he didn't want to catch.

I had no idea why someone wouldn't want to catch aweseomeness.

"Lilith," Vermin said stiffly. He held out his hand and I shook it lightly before snatching my hand back and wiping it behind my back. Vermin's hands were always sweaty for some unknown reason.

"It's _Lily_," I said slowly, "not Lilith." What I'd said seemed to go in one ear and come out the other. Vermin wasn't even paying attention to me anymore. I rolled my eyes and walked into the kitchen to find my dad sitting there and sipping his coffee and reading the paper. My dad wouldn't go anywhere without reading the paper and being caught up with the news. I myself got the Daily Prophet delivered to me every day.

I hadn't read it in a while though, lately it had been the same thing; death of families, unknown muggles found dead in their homes, the Dark Mark above their houses. There was barely any cheerful news in it, not that there was much to be cheerful about.

"Anything new dad?" I asked, as I grabbed some toast and pored myself my own cup of coffee. I was one of those people that couldn't function without coffee, a fact that was proven after I nearly fell down two flights of stairs at Hogwarts and lost my homework for Transfiguration.

"Same old, same old, mysterious death-"

"Families found dead in their homes, murderer at large," I finished with dad, nodding my head. "Same thing in the Daily Prophet, although we're a bit more accurate in our information."

"Really now?" Vernon asked amusedly. Clearly, the idea of magical folk knowing more than muggles was absurd to him. In fact, the idea that magical folk could do anything at all besides drool all over the place amused him.

"Yes, really, we know they're not mysterious, we know who did them, we've got a pretty good idea why people are dying, who are likely at risk but we just haven't caught the person responsible for it all," I replied, the annoyance was obvious in my voice. Just once, I wanted to say something without Vermin challenging me to whether I was right or not.

"Of course you lot haven't caught him, I wouldn't expect anything different from useless folk like you," Vermin said disdainfully.

I glared at him and tightened my grip on my coffee mug. Throwing it at his stupid face would probably not go down well with Petunia.

"Oh really, tell me Vernon, how close are you 'normal' lot to catching this murderer?" I asked angrily and with a raised eyebrow. Vermin went very red in the face. "Oh wait, you aren't close at all because you don't have your facts straight. In fact, you don't even know this person's name."

"And you do?" Vermin challenged.

"Of course I do, everyone in the wizarding world does. He's one of us and he's telling _us _something with these murders, not you."

"Lily," my dad said warningly. I shut my mouth and left the conversation unfinished. No one said anything for a few minutes and the longer that we were all quiet the more awkward it got. Really though, I couldn't have picked a worse subject to talk about during breakfast. Nothing like death to cheer you up in the morning.

"Everyone ready to leave?" mum asked, walking into the kitchen. I don't think I've ever been happier in my life to see her than now. I thought I would have to blurt out something really awkward to lighten the atmosphere or something. Of course, that meant that I'd have to put up with some more judging from Vermin.

"Yes, let's leave; I'll be in the doorway!" I practically yelled and shot out of my seat. I was shoving on my shoes before anyone could blink and ready to leave. Anything that made things less awkward was fine by me. It seemed like forever -but in reality it was probably only five minutes- for everyone to get ready.

I wanted to get on the road and drive to our cottage where I could avoid Petunia and Vernon for the seven some weeks that we were there. I'd gotten pretty good at it too, I'd learned to place various things around the house that I might want to go fetch so that anytime that Petunia or Vermin entered the room, I could say I'd forgotten something in another part of the house and escape.

Now I only had to spend time with them when mum thought that we weren't together enough and forced us to have Game Night. I don't know why she insisted on having them considering they always went them same way, I'd win at a game and Vermin would accuse me of cheating.

We loaded all of our things into the boot, unsurprisingly; most of the space was taken up by Vernon's things. The bloke packed like he'd be away for six months or something instead of a few weeks. Naturally, I ended up having to sit with my little bag on my lap the entire trip there.

If I'd been of age, I would've cast an Undetectable Extension Charm on the car so that all of our luggage could fit in the boot and I wouldn't have to be pressed up again Petunia for the entire ride. Neither of us were exactly thrilled about it, but it was better than being pressed up against Vernon for the entire five hours. The car ride would be even worse than usual if that happened because we'd be at each other's throats all of the time.

We all piled in, Vernon first, then Petunia and finally me. There was barely any seat left for me but I managed to squeeze in anyway. The door was shut, the car was started and we were on the road.

Everything started out all nice but the longer we stayed in the car, the antsier we got. It started when I accidentally elbowed Petunia in the face when I tried to scratch my nose. Then Vernon tried to stretch his arms which threw Petunia against me and shoved up me against the window.

I'm sure all of the other driver's enjoyed the view that they got.

Within the hour, we were all yelling at the top of our lungs and arguing with each other.

"Lily, you're in my way!"

"Well maybe if your wonderful _Vernon _over there hadn't brought so many luggages then I wouldn't be in your way!" I retorted quickly, but readjusted myself so that Petunia could move anyway. My poor bag had been practically flattened against the side of the car.

"How can someone so little take up so much space?!" Petunia snapped while glaring at me. I took up space, what about her oaf of a boyfriend sitting on her other side!? He took up more space than I did!

"How about you shut up?" I snapped back in an even angrier tone.

"HOW ABOUT YOU ALL SHUT IT!" my mum finally yelled and effectively silenced all of us. We managed to listen to a little bit of the radio before we started again.

"Honestly, Vernon, you pack more than a bloody girl," I said, as I tried to tug my little bag from near my feet.

"Language," my mum snapped at me.

"Could someone open the window, it's hot in here," Petunia said loudly before her stupid boyfriend could retort and we got into an argument. Well at least she was trying to keep some form of peace between us instead of helping the argument along.

"I'd love to but I can't reach the handle because of my bag," I replied sweetly.

"Lilith, you are getting on my last nerve," Vernon said. I was getting on his last nerve! He was getting on my last nerve as well but you don't see me telling him that!

"Don't make me come over there," I threatened, not even bothering to correct him on calling me by the wrong name yet again.

"The next person to start an argument will be cleaning the entire cottage with a toothbrush," mum threatened from the front and turned in her seat to glare at the rest of us. No one said a word for the rest of the ride.

We'd made a few rest stops on the way, which gave me a chance to empty my bladder of any liquid in it. We got some lunch at a restaurant where we all ate in silence. We were on the road again after half an hour. We wouldn't be stopping this time for anything so if anyone had to pee they would have to wait until we reached the cottage.

The scenery became increasingly wild and less citified the longer we drove. I'd never get old of this happening. I loved looking out and watching everything become more free and less structured. More and more trees appeared the farther we drove and side roads were simply dirt paths instead of paved road.

Mum had fallen asleep in the front seat and had her head leaning against her seat. Petunia was taking a nap as well and using Vermin as her pillow. He'd arranged himself so that Petunia was more comfortable against him and was stroking her hair absentmindedly while looking out the window. The only sound in the car was Petunia's soft snoring.

As much as I hated Vermin because he was a giant arse, he really did look like he cared about my sister, and if he was always this way with her, then I guess I could put up with him. I'd never seen Petunia this comfortable around anyone before in my life, and anyone who made Petunia this comfortable around them had to be doing something right.

I guess I could put up with Vernon. That didn't mean I liked him though.

"Are you all alive back there?" my dad asked quietly. Petunia muttered something in her sleep and wiggled around a little bit but didn't wake up.

"Yes dad, we're alive," I whisper-yelled back. Maybe we weren't the most comfortable but we were alive back here.

Finally, we arrived at our cottage. The place hadn't changed at all since last year. The cottage was still a little bit old and rundown looking, it was still surrounded by trees, the trail leading to the cottage closest to us was still there and the flowers that mom took care of during the day were blooming. The grass was as overgrown as ever and the bushes seemed even wilder and rougher than I remembered.

I couldn't help but grin up at the place as I stepped out of the car. I didn't care if I did have to spend time with Petunia and her boyfriend, it was summer vacation and I'd have fun, even if it meant avoiding the two of them.

We unloaded all of our stuff from the car and walked up to the front door that mum unlocked with her key. I sprinted up the stairs and headed towards my room to get everything into place. I drew the curtains open and lifted up my window so that the room could freshen out.

I took the quilt off my bed, beat it out for about a minute and then hung it out my window so that the desk would come out. This was our usual ritual; I could hear the same thing happening everywhere else in the house in various rooms. Windows were opened; things were wacked to get the dust out, and if possible, hung out to be freshened.

I could see mum walking the usual trail to the cottage next door to see if there was anyone new there. I don't know why she did it, there usually wasn't anyone in the next door cottage, we didn't know why but no one had rented the place out.

Petunia liked to joke that it was because they knew there was a freak living next to them. Funnily enough, only she and precious Vernon found it amusing.

By the time that mum got back from her visit, I'd hung up my clothes , shoved my bag under my bed and was helping dad write up a list of food that we needed to buy from town.

"Guess what?" mum said excitedly.

"What?" I asked without looking from the list that I was adding yet another thing to. There was an absurd amount of sweets on it if you asked me.

"There's a family staying at the cottage next door!" I looked up when she said that in surprise. That really was news, who on earth had taken the cottage next to ours. And why next to us of all people? Surely there must've been cottages somewhere else. Looks like Petunia's freak theory wasn't correct after all.

"That really is news," I said.

"We're going over for tea since we haven't got anything in the house in about five minutes. You're welcome to come with me, there's two boys around your age there that you could get to know, they're quite handsome too," mum added with a wink in my direction. I rolled my eyes at that last comment. She'd barely met the boys and she was already trying to set me up with one of them.

It's almost like my family thought I was a nun while away at Hogwarts or something.

"Sure mum, if it makes you happy, I'll go," I said with a smile.

"Let's go," she said grabbing me by the arm and dragging me out of my chair. I hadn't seen mum look this excited for going to the cottage before. I guess I'd be pretty excited too if there was finally someone that I could talk to besides my dad, Petunia and her pet and me. I was happy for mum though, she finally had another female to talk about things that I couldn't relate to.

And by the sounds of it, they both had loads in common as well, they both had two children.

Mum yelled something to my dad from the doorway while I tied up my shoes. Told Petunia where she and I were headed and asked her if she wanted to come. Petunia sniffed out a no and then went looking for Vernon so that they could talk about how much I sucked.

We slowly made our way down the trail and pretty soon, the cottage we were staying in vanished and another one appeared. This one was almost an exact replica of ours except it looked a lot better taken care of and not as old. The closer we got, the more I wanted to meet these people who were our next door neighbors for the summer.

Mum and I walked up the patio steps and she politely rung the doorbell and waited for it to be opened.

The door was opened by a tall woman with jet black hair, who was dressed in muggle clothing and looked young but at the same time you could tell that she was older by the way that she looked. The woman smiled a large smile at my mum and gave her a warm hug which surprised me because no one had ever greeted anyone in my family this way before. We weren't counting relatives here; they were practically obliged to greet us that way even if they didn't like us.

"Lily, this is Hestia Potter," my mum said and the smile that was forming on my face froze. Surely this couldn't be James Potter's mother, nah, what were the chances of him being in the cottage next to mine.

"You know, you look a lot like a girl that my son goes on and on about," Hestia said shaking my hand warmly. A feeling of dread spread through me at that. No, there was no way that . . .

My thoughts were interrupted however by the thundering of what sounded like several feet and a lot of yelling. And before I could process what was really happening, the messy-haired head of James Potter came into view from the top of the staircase behind Hestia Potter

"Potter!" I exclaimed when he'd reached the bottom of the stairs. Potter whipped around at the sound of my voice and seemed momentarily shocked by the fact that it was me standing before him.

"Lily!" he exclaimed in equal surprise. Unlike me, however, he looked pleased to see me. The sound of another of pair of running feet attracted my attention and Sirius came sliding down the banister before landing next to James.

"Black!"

"See Prongs, told you it was Lily who was staying next door," Sirius said, grinning at me.

* * *

**A/N: **Another story you say! Why yes, yes indeed. Just thought I'd come out with some James/Lily because I haven't written them in a while and I really wanted to. I'm not happy with the flow of this chapter, it was kind of choppy when I was reading through so I'm going to keep that in mind as something NOT to do when writing the other chapters for this story.

Anyway, reviews are always loved! and thank you to the wonderful cynical tda for the amazing cover!


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